HTC Desire to get Gingerbread soon!

HTC has announced that its Incredible S phone would be getting Gingerbread update in the month of June. The phone was unveiled at Mobile World Congress a few weeks back. At that time, the company said that the phone will be updated to Android 2.3 ‘quickly’. Seems like, for HTC, 4 months of time period for software update come under the realm of ‘quick’.

Anyhow, Incredible S is not the only lucky HTC phone. Apparently, the company’s older models such as Desire HD and Desire Z would be getting 2.3 update as well. And let’s not forget the grand old daddy of Desire series, the original HTC Desire. All these phones will be upgraded alongside Incredible S. As for the recently announced HTC phones, Wildfire S and Desire S, these babies will come pre-loaded with Gingerbread flavor of Android.

When you purchase an Android phone chances are it won’t come pre-installed with the latest version of the popular mobile operating system. This isn’t Google’s fault as their engineers are great at getting the latest versions of Android out of development and onto the streets but instead the manufacturers and wireless carriers. Luckily, as of late, those involved seem to be kicking things into high gear getting the Android 2.2 update out for many devices that have lagged behind.

Rumor: Ice Cream After Honeycomb!!

Open source software enthusiasts might see another version of Android as soon as this summer. Android devotees already know that each operating system update is given the name of a dessert, and that these names have gone in alphabetical order (Donut, Eclair, etc.).

Rumors about the next version of the Android operating system that comes after Android 3.0, which is expected to be Android Ice Cream, had started well before the unveiling of the Honeycomb OS. Now, it appears that Google has already started working on its upcoming OS.

Latest info suggests that the search giant has already started working on a smartphone build, GRI17, that is being referred to by the code-name ‘Ice Cream’. And it appears that the new build will be bringing some of the elements found in Honeycomb over to handsets. 

Presently, new smartphones run Android 2.3 Gingerbread or 2.2 Froyo operating systems. But, when Google first showcased the features of Honeycomb at 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), most of the gadget lovers demanded these features on smartphones too. Now, the search engine giant understood the huge market value of Android and set to launch Ice Cream for mobiles.

It is not clear which features will be available on smartphones. Honeycomb offers 3D User Interface, multi-tasking and even data encryption for tablets. So,It is expected that the upcoming OS will have some features resembling Honeycomb’s new notification system and visual themes. It is expected that the Android Ice Cream will only be unveiled in the third quarter of 2011.

Sony Ericsson Eyes for No: 1 Android Based Handset Maker!!!

Sony Ericsson CEO, Bert Nordberg, said that Sony Ericsson wants to be the No. 1 Google Android handset maker in the world. And it needs a strong foothold in the U.S. market to make that goal a reality.

Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Japanese consumer electronics maker Sony and Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, has been on the mobile phone scene for about a decade. The company has mostly concentrated on delivering high-end phones to the European and Asian markets. But it's never had a strong presence in the U.S., which has helped keep its overall market share in the bottom half of major handset providers.

The phone, which is based on Google's latest Android software and was introduced tonight at Sony Ericsson's press conference, will become its flagship smartphone in the U.S. market. To generate buzz ahead of the launch, Sony Ericsson ran an advertisement during the broadcast of the Super Bowl. And according to Nordberg, it worked. He wouldn't say how much the company spent on that ad. But he said the CEO of a major U.S. carrier called him directly to ask when his network could get the new phone.

Yes, Sony Ericsson has taken it's first step to achieve it's aim. The PlayStation phone is going to be a reality very soon and it is named Xperia Play (PSP Phone).

Android Honeycomb shows off its graphics capability!!!

Google officially unveiled Android 3.0 Honeycomb, demoing it on the Motorola Xoom which was introduced at CES 2011 last month, in an event today. The demonstration video showed a handful of features that Honeycomb OS offers like the Notification System, Application Optimization and a new built-in Render Script for hardware accelerated 3D graphics.

Here are some of Honeycomb features that came trhought the presentation:

1. Notification System

The Honeycomb GUI has been optimized for tablets and it has buttons for Home, Back and Multitasking on the lower left while the lower right has notifications and clock. The new multitasking button will show visual preview of the recently used applications and the states that they are currently in. The Notification system has been redesigned for better user experience.

The rest of the screen is entirely dedicated to applications and Google said the Home screen is not just a screen where icons can be arranged but also a developer platfrom in itself. Google also showcased different widgets for Gmail, calendar, Grid for bookmarks, Stack for news or e-books etc. One intuitive feature about is the multitouch support which enables users to scroll through more than one widget at a time (much awaited feature).

2. Application Optimization

Google said that it wants to encourage developers to build tablet optimized applications/games, so it introduced what it called Application Fragment. The Fragment will allow a static frame for the app that can be used throughout the app while the other pane can be dynamic. In the video, Google demonstrated how the Application Fragment works using the Honeycomb/tablet version of Gmail. The feature also offers drag and drop in the Gmail application and the top has an application bar which is context-sensitive based.

3. Render Script Graphic Engine

Using the Script Graphic Engine, Honeycomb is able to show fluid and smooth 3D transitions in the web or applications. The Script also enables various 3D animations and graphics for the Honeycomb OS which will be running on various devices. Google also said that it had worked hard enough to make sure that the OS will get optimized 3D for different tablet devices running on multi-core processors.